The abundance of good intentions, which fade before taking the all-desired holiday…

The summer holiday period we are having (despite the bad news in politics and the economy) leads me to think that the holidays are connected to our central concerns of health and wellbeing which are always with us. Of course, we all certainly proclaim – before leaving for a holiday – that holiday is a right and duty, including taking care of ourselves. Including moving about more, relaxing, breathing fresh air, eating more healthily…obviously, reading, spending time with our loved ones and friends, talking, reflecting, “taking time for ourselves”. The usual abundance of good intentions, which fade before taking the all-desired holiday: the agitation of choosing the destination, hurriedly finishing everything before we leave, packing…arguing with those who we are sharing the journey… Then, finally, we leave: subject to various queues and fatigue from the journey, we arrive at the long-awaited destination. And usually, we instantly do the exact opposite of want we were aiming to do: we run here and there “so we don’t miss anything”, to “see as much as possible”, we overindulge on food “so we can try the delicacies”, we argue with our neighbours in the hotel or at restaurants, we stay up at night to “live”: and we even end it all by fighting with our wife and children who don’t want the same things we want… Not to mention overexposure to the sun and the fantasy stories we tell on who we are and what we do or what we have done and seen on holiday…

It isn’t a coincidence that the number of divorces increases at the end of the summer holiday season, as do cases of depression. It is not because holidays are a finite period, but because we often give the worst of ourselves during this apparently “magical”, inescapable and lethal period.